+ Ukraine war in the news blog + | Kremlin allegedly throws out another general

Day 403 since the beginning of the war: The head of the Wagner mercenary troop claims to have taken Bachmut. Ukraine disagrees. All information in the news blog.

11:12 p.m .: According to the military alliance, the new NATO member Finland from Tuesday has not asked for NATO troops to be stationed on its territory. “So far there has been no such request,” NATO military committee chairman Admiral Rob Bauer told the AFP news agency on Monday. But of course there could be such a request in the future, “and then we have to deal with it,” added Bauer. Whether NATO will station troops in Finland is “a question that starts with Finland,” he said.

In response to Finland joining NATO, the Kremlin had announced that it would strengthen its troops in north-western Russia in the coming years. “We will strengthen our military capacities in the west and north-west,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Monday, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

9:29 p.m.: The Russian Defense Ministry has fired another commander in Ukraine, according to a report. This was reported by the “Moscow Times”, citing two sources in the Defense Ministry. Accordingly, it is General Rustam Muradov.

Muradov is said to have been responsible for the attacks near the Ukrainian city of Wuhledar in the Donbass. In January and February, the Russian army recorded massive losses there. “Muradov was suspended because he was a crazy idiot who (…) could send soldiers to certain death. A lot of people complained about him,” a source told the newspaper.

Muradov is said to have previously been deployed in Syria and the South Caucasus. The Russian Ministry of Defense left an inquiry about the personnel unanswered. It was unclear whether Muradov would receive a new assignment in the military or who would replace him.

8:23 p.m.: Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has awarded a medal to Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed in a bomb attack. “For the courage and boldness demonstrated in the performance of his professional duties, Fomin’s military correspondent, Maxim Yuryevich (Vladlen Tatarsky) will be posthumously awarded the Order of Bravery,” reads the decree published on Monday.

Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed and more than 30 people injured in the explosion at a St. Petersburg cafe on Sunday. Tatarski, who himself had called for the “total annihilation of Ukraine,” wanted to talk about his experiences as a war reporter in the combat zone in eastern Ukraine. The authorities have now classified the act as a terrorist attack and arrested a suspect. According to media reports, the young woman was transferred to Moscow.

According to the Russian leadership, Kiev and the liberal opposition around the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny are responsible for the attack. They deny their partnership and see inner-Russian power struggles behind the explosion. The assassination triggered horror in Russia’s power apparatus. It is the second case in which a Russian propagandist has been killed since the Russian war of aggression began more than a year ago. Publicist Darja Dugina died in a car explosion near Moscow last year.

7:28 p.m.: According to information from the United States, fighting is still going on in Ukraine over Bakhmut in the east of the country. The Ukrainian troops were not driven out of the city, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists. He is reacting to statements by the Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigoshin, according to which his Wagner troops conquered Bakhmut.